


Felix Culpa

by notyourdadsaugspecialist



Category: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 21:19:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14004984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notyourdadsaugspecialist/pseuds/notyourdadsaugspecialist
Summary: Adam Jensen keeps everyone at a distance, especially strange augmented doctors who have a lot to hide. But Koller is persistent, Adam is charming despite himself, and Vega wonders how she keeps getting dragged into their issues.(Canon-adjascent with my own bits put in. Adam and Koller are the Main Pairing here, but both will be involved with others on varying levels throughout the fic. Tags will be updated as necessary. Rating will also eventually go up. Keep an eye out for both of those before continuing.)





	Felix Culpa

_The cold press of a muzzle against the side of his temple has Adam gritting his teeth, bracing for the shot before darkness consumes him._

_A soft, breathy sigh whispers through his head, the memory of skin hot against his, gentle and pliant curves under his fingertips. Softly curved lips cup his earlobe, and he lets out a rumble of a groan._

_The whirr of the saw slicing through flesh, white hot searing through his nerves. Someone is screaming, and Adam is in far too much pain to realize the inhuman noise is tearing its way out of his own chest. Vague, muffled voices bark orders, arguing indistinctly. If Adam wasn't in so much pain he would recognize at least one of those voices. As it is, the blinding light sends a sharp spike of pain through him, and as they cut away what was left of his arm, he screams again._

_“I love you.”_

_Long blonde hair cascading over delicate, freckled shoulders as Adam presses himself against her, sliding a hand up her torso, grasping at one breast before gently cupping her throat. He kisses along her shoulder, the taste of her heavy on his tongue as he squeezes around her windpipe ever so lightly, just enough to make her clench around him with a breathless moan._

_More and more metal and polymer inserted into his broken body, Adam can feel himself slipping away, becoming less than human, or perhaps more. Steel alloy is screwed into his chest, his crippled legs being removed with the overwhelming sound of saw through bone, overpowered by Adam's own screams. Augmented eyes open wide, staring sightless at the ceiling as he clenches his metal fists, throat filling with blood at the strength of his own screaming._

_“I need to aspirate, now! He's going to choke on his own blood! He shouldn't even be awake, fucking hell, this is a disaster!”_

_“Adam…”_

_She rolls him onto his back and rides him, fingers digging into his chest as a sensual, almost musical laugh falls from her lips. He stares up, eyes hooded, in absolute awe of her. His hands slide up her thighs, gripping her hips firmly as he rolls his hips up against her. He is too captivated by the warm glow in her green eyes, glittering like jewels in the semi-dark. Red sheets tangle around their legs, red like the flush staining her cheeks and the gently parted lips that murmur his name in a way that never fails to make his heart leap in his chest._

_His heart is encased in a neodymium and carbon composite polymer made mesh, with a delicate Sarif Industries logo embossed in gold that no one can see. Incisions slowly close and flesh knits together, bonding with alloy and grafting around carbon fiber and kevlar cables. Neural tissue solidifies around PEDOT electrodes. In the observation room, David Sarif sighs in relief as Adam's vitals finally stabilize and his heart rate slows to a resting state._

_“I love you.”_

Adam jerks awake, bolting upright as his eyes snap wide. He rips off the sheets as a shiver runs violently through him, adrenaline sharpening his focus almost painfully, searching for the threat that has Adam's breath heaving in his chest. He grits his teeth tightly and digs his fingers into the mattress to steady himself, jolting in alarm when he hears the tearing of fabric. His Titan aug had apparently activated itself in response to the presumed threat when he awoke, and with a great deal of effort he switches it off and stands. Arms wrapped tight around his middle, Adam makes his way to the bathroom, turning the knob for cold water and splashing it on his face. He takes several slow, shaky breaths, attempting to slow his heartbeat, if only so his HUD will stop flashing warning lights at him. He takes another rattling breath, and then one more for good measure, pulling it in slowly before exhaling just as slowly, watching as his bpm steadily falls back into an acceptable range. He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair.

Adam hasn't had one of those nightmares in a few months, so he supposes he's overdue for one by now. The Collective (and consequently, TF29) had just got him stationed here a few weeks ago, and while he knows the anti-aug climate is rich here, he wasn't quite prepared for just how rich. He thought Detroit was bad, but this place takes the absolute fucking cake. Every single day on his way to work he's harassed by no less than three police officers, and a small (or large, depending on just how much he keeps to himself) handful of civilians see fit to hurl insults and jibes his way. In fact, he thinks the only time he's gone a single day _without_ getting harassed is when he stays in his apartment, and even that isn't a sure thing, thanks to the shady part of town he lives in.

Adam sighs in frustration and disgust, shaking his head as he turns on the shower. Alex is meeting him by the train station in a few hours, she's introducing him to the aug specialist they found for him here in Prague, which she is always eager to remind him that it was not easy to do, all things considered.

He bites his lip, lost in thought as he disrobes and steps in, methodically washing himself on autopilot and chasing away the vestiges of the nightmare and accompanying panic attack.

Alex was hesitant to provide Adam any preliminary details about the guy, which only made him more nervous. She could just be protecting him, but he thinks it's more likely she's afraid he will turn up his nose. Which makes him equal parts wary and curious. Is he a gangster? A racist? Is he super young or super old? He’ll find out soon enough.

The shower doesn't take long, and getting dressed takes even less time. He grabs a protein bar and eats it on the way to the meeting place, too jittery to eat a proper breakfast. Maybe he would check out one of the restaurants in his district on the way home. He hasn't really done much exploring yet, but he's got to familiarize himself with his new home at some point.

Thankfully, Vega is more polite than he tends to be. She arrives only a few minutes after he does, clearing her throat and gesturing for him to follow. He falls into step beside her and pointedly ignores her concerned glances.

“No offense, but you look like hell, Adam. You okay?”

“I'm fine. You gonna tell me anything about this guy yet or are you going to keep me in suspense?”

She narrows her eyes at his very clear sidestep of her question, but lets it pass.

“Guy's name is Václav Koller. Basically a boy genius with augs. Got three PhDs by the time he was 24, and has been innovating and inventing his own stuff since like, 15. He designed, built, and installed all of his augs himself, including the cranial one -” Adam raises his eyebrows, but Alex just shrugs. “Don't ask, I don't have any idea how he managed it, and I'm not sure I want to.”

A cop stops them and demands to see their papers, and Vega presents hers with a tight smile, while Adam does the same with a barely contained scowl. At least in Detroit most of the cops knew him, or knew _of_ him, and so they usually didn't hassle him. Adam has only been here a few weeks and he's already tired of the police. They clear the checkpoint and continue to make their way onward.

“Anything else I should know about this guy before I meet him?”

“Honestly? He's mostly just odd. He calls his workshop “the Dungeon,” if that gives you any idea.”

Adam shoots her a dubious look. She just shrugs.

“I don't think it's a sex thing, he just likes to sound cool. He's a nice guy, though, and he does good work. Helps out a lot of the poorer augs in this city, the ones who can't afford help anywhere else. His bookshop ain't too shabby, either.”

Before Adam can ask her to elaborate, they round the corner and he can see the bookshop in question: the Time Machine. Vega glances over her shoulder before heading inside, and Adam quickly follows suit.

He is greeted with the familiar, comforting smell of books. Real books. Paperback, hardback, high gloss, every kind of authentic book you can think of. This is probably the only genuine bookstore left in Prague. Adam makes a mental note of that and files it away for later as he wanders through the rows of shelves. It's organized pristinely, by subject and author respectively, just like Adam has his books sorted at home- or, well. How he _had_ them sorted. And will again when he manages to find time to unpack.

Adam finds the science section easily enough, and starts leafing through an astrophysics book while he waits for Vega to find this supposed aug specialist. Meanwhile, he pretends not to notice the eyes on him from the second floor.

He puts the one book back and picks up another, thumbing through it absentmindedly as he assesses the person watching him. All he can really see is a mop of unruly black hair and a bunch of spikes. The eyes are curious, lingering almost and Adam finds himself in unfamiliar territory yet again. He may or may not be being checked out, and he has no idea how to feel about it.

His attention to his mystery admirer is broken by Alex heading up the stairs and out of his line of sight.  Adam hastily puts the book back and follows, not eager to leave his partner unprotected in a place with so many variables.

 _I just hope this guy's not a quack,_ Adam thinks to himself as he hits the landing of the second floor, trailing after Vega.


End file.
